We spent a very enjoyable Wine
Discovery Experience Day last Saturday in the vineyard at
Château de la Bonnelière in Chinon. This hands-on wine
course enables you to roll up your sleeves and get involved in
discovering the winemakers profession.

We're approaching the end of the cold months, and so at this time
of year in the Loire valley, we start to slowly work the soil
again. To protect the vines from the freezing winter
temperatures, the winemakers heap soil around the vines stocks in
a process called "cavaillonnage". At the end of winter,
this extra soil is removed again during the
"décavaillonnage". And this was what was in store for us
today!

Marc Plouzeau, the winemaker and owner, joined us in the vineyard
with his tractor. With the help of some of our clients, he
had attached a mechanical "décavaillonneuse" (a special type of
plough) behind the tractor. The décavaillonneuse has a
fairly flat blade on either side which tills the soil between the
vine stocks, and removes the extra soil from around each vine,
returning the soil to the centre of each row.

The machine has a semi-automated mechanism that enables it to
plough around each vine. Most of the time it works fine all
by itself, but every now and then needs a little helping
hand! We took turns guiding it to ensure that the
vines weren't dug up in the process! You can better see how
it works in the short video.

Some clients also had the chance to drive the tractor - a
few childhood dreams becoming reality!

Despite the efforts of the décavaillonneuse, a few heaps of soil
and some grass remained around the vines. For the more
energetic, the hoes enabled us to finish the job properly!

Throughout the morning, Marc explained to us all of the steps
taken and to be taken in the vineyard to ensure the best possible
grapes come harvest time. The vineyard is
organically certified, so we also spent time discussing the
differences between organic, biodynamic and conventional farming
methods.

A Wine
Experience day isn't complete without a visit to the vineyard
plot where the adopted vines are located. As usual, out
came the cameras to take a few snaps, and we have already
received a few photos for the
"My Vine" photo competition.

Our hard work in the morning was rewarded with some wine tasting
back at the château, starting with the winery's Sauvignon Blanc
and Chinon rosé.

Lunch was served in the barn, where we continued our tasting with
some of the red wines, including the Château de la Bonnelière
Chinon red, which is the cuvée chosen by Gourmet Odyssey.

We started the afternoon in the fermentation hall to see where
the grapes are received during the harvest, and where the juice
is turned into wine. We will spend more time here during
the Harvest Experience Day.

The day finished in the magnificent cellar which is found in the
centre of Chinon, directly beneath the Chinon castle. It's
a magical and impressive place, even more so when we learnt that
the huge galleries where dug by hand!

It's here in the cellar that the barrels quietly rest, and the
bottles are stocked before being dispatched to be enjoyed near
and far.

As always, many thanks to Marc for welcoming us so warmly and
giving us a tiny glimpse of what it's like to be a winemaker.

During the Wine Experience Days, one thing you can always be
sure of is that the cameras will come out and start clicking away
as soon as our clients meet their adopted vines!

We are often surprised by the originality of the photos taken, so
we thought it was a good idea to launch the "My Vine"
competition for the most original photo taken of your
adopted vines during one of the Gourmet Odyssey Wine Experience
days.

We spent a sunny weekend amongst the vines in Burgundy for a
Wine
Experience weekend at Domaine Chapelle. The aim of this
hands-on wine course is to learn more about the work in the
vineyard, a stage which is so important in making quality wine.

The day started in the vineyard, where Jean-François Chapelle,
the owner of the winery, and Yannick Jacrot, the Technical
Director, showed us the difference between the local terroir,
something which is always easier to appreciate in situ than
looking at a geological map!

Yannick and Jean-François then explained the different steps
taken to nurture the vines from pruning right up to the time of
harvest.

The warm and sunny spring that we have enjoyed has meant that the
vines are ahead of where they would normally be, and the buds
have already started to appear.

The vines are organically certified at Domaine Chapelle, so we
spent quite a lot of time learning how the vineyard is managed
and the differences involved compared to conventional farming
methods.

Each Wine
Experience client is the adopted owner of some vines, and so
before getting down to some work, we left some time free so that
everyone could introduce themselves to their vines!

Yannick had left us a few rows of vines to prune, so that we
could see how to do it for ourselves. It seems easy when
you listen to the explanation, but once you're confronted with a
vine, secateurs in hand, it's not that simple!

Another task that we got involved with was to use a hoe to remove
the weeds from between the vines that the plough had
missed.

After the morning spent in the vineyard, the aperitif was
most welcome! We tasted a couple of the winery's white wines
before lunch. During the meal we continued the wine tasting
with some of the red wines to compare different vintages and
terroir.

We started the afternoon in the fermentation hall with an
introduction to the wine making side of things. This is
where we shall spend more time during the Harvest and
Vinification Experience Days.

The day ended in the cellar where we toured the labyrinth
of barrels and bottles where the wine is matured and
stocked.

Many thanks to Yannick and Jean-François for sharing their
passion for their profession, and giving us a brief glimpse into
the life of a winemaker.